found missing has allegedly accused an Anambra state medical doctor of
using it for ritual purposes.
However, police authority has exonerated the medical doctor of any
complicity in the matter.
The newborn child had died at the private hospital in Onitsha, Anambra
State in 2015, but her parents later discovered that one of the baby’s
ear was mutilated, while also alleging that the doctor, Dr Oliver Umeh,
may have used her for ritual purposes.
But a police report on the matter, obtained by journalists, has
exonerated the medical doctor, saying the missing ear had been eaten by
rodents.
The incident had led to mass arrest of staff of the hospital, while
several petitions had also been written to the Inspector General of
Police, the Nigeria Medical Association, and even wife of the governor
of Anambra State, Mrs Ebelechukwu Obiano, by the parent from Ebonyi
State.
But the report by the office of the Inspector-General of Police stated
that rats actually ate the baby’s ear at the hospital.
Part of the report read, “In the course of the investigation, statements
of parties to the case were recorded and the scene of crime was visited.
Detectives also viewed the corpse of the deceased baby.
“An autopsy was conducted on the remains of the deceased baby, but the
parents contested the outcome.
“This occasioned the parents of the deceased baby to arrange for another
pathologist, who conducted a second autopsy.
“In the course of investigation, it was established that Mr Solomon Igwe
and his wife, Bridget, brought their five-day-old baby girl to the
Victory Children’s Hospital, Onitsha, as a referral case from St. Mary’s
Hospital, Okpoko Onitsha.
“It was also revealed that 45 minutes after their arrival, the baby died
in the presence of the parents while on admission, but the parents could
not collect the corpse on that fateful day, but on arrival for the
collection of the corpse the following day for burial, it was discovered
that the deceased’s right ear had been severed; they alerted the
police.”
The report added that police investigation revealed that the parents
capitalised on the discovered severed ear and became suspicious of the
cause of death.
It further stated that both the first and second post-mortem
examinations conducted on the insistence of the father of the deceased
baby revealed that the ear was apparently removed by rodents, hence the
serrated edges of the defect left behind. Histology also shows that the
defect arose after death.
“Consequently, this evidently resolved the contention as to the cause of
death and the severed ear.
“There is nothing of evidential value linking Dr Oliver Umeh to the
alleged crime in the course of investigation as no enough evidence
abound on the allegation linking Dr. Oliver Umeh to any crime.”
It was gathered that the parents had earlier demanded N10 million from
the hospital as compensation for the severed ear, but the hospital
management rather petitioned the IGP.